S02.E06: Tried And True

[scarynikki12]

Quote

Lois tells Clark that she and Chrissy plan to do a deeper dive into the Inverse Society and Lana and Sarah try to comfort each other after the fallout at Sarah's quinceañera.

 

 

[scarynikki12]

Always on board with an episode opening on a kitty. Hello there Opposite World! Let's see OW includes said kitty, Lana with powers, Bizarro stealing the pendant from Ally, Bizarro getting strength from the red sun, and burrowing into the earth until he crossed over to the Smallville mines. Interesting that Bizarro still looked like a zombie even in OW.

I doubt Clark actually needs to brush his teeth so he either likes the ritual, the taste, or it soothes him when he's anxious. I admire Lois' restraint since I would totally be trying to jump him rather than talk while he wanders without a shirt.

Jordan found the inhaler! One step closer to learning about your KryptoSteroid use. 

The Sophie actress has a dead eye quality but her monotone fits the Sullen Sophie thing from last episode so I'm still a fan. Shame they couldn't let her join in comforting Lana.

I love a sisterly fight so Lucy vs Lois with Sam failing to referee is my jam.

Even Anderson cowers before a grieving mom. I would too, to be fair. Moms are scary and upset moms are the most terrifying force ever.

Is SnuggleMuffin's hair styled differently or am I just assuming since these stories typically come with Bangs Of Sadness and/or Berets of Meth Addiction.

I'm glad Kyle answered Lana's questions about the affair. Many shows keep the two characters apart to build drama and then have them talk over each other. The simple honest conversation was more effective than any of that other drama. I liked her talk with Tanya as well. Separating while she figures things out is smart and I hope Kyle follows her lead.

See Lucy? Get out of the cult and you can have Fun Family Time more often. I'm sure she'll try and convert them while she's in town but I'm enjoying their rapport while it lasts. 

Ok that is one gigantic bow. I think it's bigger than Candace's head.

Red light and a kryptonite bullet. Anderson really doesn't like Superman.

We're leading to Clark and Edge teaming up to defeat Anderson aren't we?

[Jediknight]

The show opened with an evil looking cat, and it was directed by Amy Jo Johnson.  Nice joke there, show.  Nice joke.  Honestly, she did a really good job especially with the fights.

If it was a one night stand, I could sympathize with Kyle maybe.  But a 6 month affair?  Dude, you're gonna have to do some time in spouse jail for that, and prove you can be trusted.  I'm with Lana on this.

I feel like branding Superman a traitor would be an impossible sell.  He's fucking Superman.  Although nice timing with him going to Russia in this episode.  Anderson is still a shithead.

[cambridgeguy]

Anderson's boss was named Hardcastle - her animated equivalent on Superman the Animated Series was a guy who really, really hated Supes. 

The military must be convinced that Superman will never break out or that super forgiveness is one of his powers because this seems like the sort of thing that would permanently burn bridges.  Do you really want to do that with your best line of defense?  Plus doesn't the public still love the guy?  They know he stops disasters worldwide and it seems like they'd be more likely to take his side over the military. 

And I know the reality of making TV shows means we won't find out (and that's fine) but just for fun - Kara Danvers, what do you think about your cousin being arrested for treason? 

I think it's pretty clear Lucy doesn't know Clark is Superman, but she did lampshade something that's eventually going to be an issue - he'll look exactly the same for decades while Lois ages like a normal person.  Will he eventually start putting on some old age makeup along with the glasses?

Edited March 2, 2022 by cambridgeguy

[dwmarch]

I got a chuckle out of the "Bizarre... oh" exchange.

Bizarro world had some fun details too. The newspapers were printed backwards and the barn was on the opposite side of the house.

Yeah, let's take Superman and put him in jail with his evil brother. Can't see how that plan might go wrong.

[Chicago Redshirt]

The plan of "deem Superman a traitor in secret and hold him until he admits where Bizarro is" is probably the dumbest secret government plan in the history of secret government plans.

I have to assume that they are doing this secretly and Sam just knows because he still has sources in the government. Because publicly declaring him a traitor is even dumber. 

The best case scenario is that they get the information as to where the duplicate is and I guess hold Clark forever and let untold numbers of people die when natural disasters, supervillains and alien invasions happen. I could buy that Anderson just is so f---ed in the head that he spontaneously did this and that he had enough loyalist he could count on to ambush and surprise Superman. But the notion that someone above him thought this was not just an OK plan, but their best shot is crazy.

[madhacker]

Anderson is an idiot for doing that to Superman. Now if the CW had the bud

14 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I have to assume that they are doing this secretly and Sam just knows because he still has sources in the government. Because publicly declaring him a traitor is even dumber. 

Anderson is an idiot for doing that to Superman. Now if the CW had the budget, we'd be seeing Lois making a few phone calls, and next thing Anderson knows he's got a pissed off Supergirl to deal with amongst other superheroes knocking at his door (witch you have to admit would be awesome). Yeah, I know she and Joh'nn are "off-world" but I find it hard to believe that Clark wouldn't have some sort of Krypto-Tech to contact her.

[thuganomics85]

Liked seeing a glimpse of Opposite World and a bit of Bizarro's time on there.  Especially am intrigued over that version of Lana having powers: I wonder if that is a hint for things to come in this world?  Overall, I like that they aren't making Bizarro either a one-note villain or a comic relief character, and there are some intriguing ideas being set up with him.

Oh, Sam!  I get wanting to be one big happy family again, but this isn't a normal sibling squabble we are having here, buddy.  It's between a daughter who might be a little bullheaded at times, but overall a good person vs. a daughter who... is currently drinking the Kool-Aid from an obviously dangerous cult leader, and has already lied to and blackmailed her own sister.  This isn't just a case of different opinions here.

Speaking of sibling battles, Jordan figures out Jonathan is juicing on that sweet X-K and it unsurprisingly not going well for either of them right now.  I wonder if Jonathan finding out that the cops are starting to get involved my change things, but I doubt.  Kid is totally addicted to it (and the power that comes with), and an intervention of some kind is needed.

Still think Kyle is sincere about his guilt from the affair and is a different person now (hell, he's already different from the one we saw last season), but this is definitely something he's going to really have to work on in order to have a shot at reconciliation.  I don't think Lana is wrong that there was a chance he never would have ended it had Sarah not tried to commit suicide.

Damn, there's your average, arrogant "pain in the ass" military leaders being thorns in our heroes side, and then there is Anderson!  What an idiotic asshole.  Even if his "plan" worked and Clark/Superman gave over Bizarro, does he (and the rest of the military) not see how this will probably majorly damage this relationship.  Of course, Clark is so damn noble that he will keep saving those in need, but I really won't blame him if he wants nothing to do with the American government anymore after this little act.

Cool that Amy Jo Johnson directed this one.  Had some good shots here: especially enjoyed the similar hallway fight sequences with Bizarro vs. soldiers in the opening and Superman vs. soldiers in the end. 

[tennisgurl]

I really liked seeing some of Bizarro World, it looks like a cool creepy place, complete with a mangy cat and a Lana with powers, I would like it if we got to hang out there a little bit. Bizarro seems to have a lot of interesting things going on, he's an interesting villain, I wonder what happened to the Bizarro versions of his family? Did Jon get powers while Jordan started smoking alien drugs to keep up? Why did those pictures have Jon and Lois's faces marked out?

I wonder if Jordan is thinking "so this is what its like to have a moody troubled brother, this freaking sucks" while Jon is acting increasingly weird. It really was sad how excited Jordan clearly was to share having powers with his brother, and then seeing how upset he was that Jon is not only lying to him but engaging in really dangerous behavior. Oh Jon, this was probably inevitable after everything that has happened, but its still hard to watch such a sweet kid going through such a rough time making bad choices. 

I can appreciate Sam trying to bring his daughters together, but this is clearly part of a much bigger problem than just sisterly squabbles. Technically, Lucy isn't wrong that Ally is right about there being ways to see another you, but she is also clearly a dangerous cult leader with nefarious goals and Lucy needs to listen to what her sister is saying. At least the tension was broken a bit at the end by Sam commenting on the Mayor being a "windbag". 

Six months? Yeah, that is really really bad, and while its good that Kyle ended things to focus on his family after Sarah's suicide attempt, it makes you wonder what would have happened if that had never happened. Would he have continued the affair? Left Lana? I do think that Kyle is extremely sorry and really has put a lot of work into being a better husband, but this is rough to forgive.

The Arrowverse have given us many stupid dickheads military leaders, but Anderson might just take the cake. How does he see this going exactly? Is he such a short sighted jackass that he would think that arresting Superman for treason would end up paying off in the long run? Best case scenario is that Clark tells him where Bizarro is and when he has to finally let him go, he just never contacts the American government again? We know that Clark will just keep saving people because he's that good of a guy, but Anderson doesn't seem to understand that. What a complete asshole, and you just know Edge is going to be smug as fuck about all of this. 

Of course, Anderson should be worried about what Superman or Bizarro will do to him, but what Lois will do, even if he doesn't know it yet.

[Frozendiva]

I liked the view of the alternate world. This show has a bit of a budget. As others have said, Bizarro is not a one-note villain. The whole Ally and the cult and the use of the alternate world is interesting.

Lana was mature about her husband's affair. I probably wouldn't have paid a visit to the other woman. This is on Kyle and his unresolved emotional issues. I would have some space and also have to look at the whole Morgan Edge takeover, which he was part of. That was him getting to be a different person and now he is back as the old person he was, and maybe doesn't want to be that person.

I also understand Jon being jealous of Jordan having powers. He wants to be special too and the drug is his gateway. It is unfortunate that there is now a police investigation in to the drug.

Interesting that Superman paid a visit to Russia - in terms of show timing.

Anderson is the worst. Charging Superman wih treason?

Lucy and Lois, stick to family stuff. That's it. Lucy will not see the the light regarding Ally until she wants to or has enough evidence to do so.

[Proteus]

The Bizarro fight at the beginning was probably the best scene ever on an Arrowverse series. I am just amazed by it.

Other world Lana looked hot.

I hope Lana is really done with Kyle.

This show always surprises me with how good it is.

[Lady Calypso]

What a wonderfully directed episode. Amy Jo Johnson did an amazing job with the directing. It was definitely memorable, with the parallels with Bizarro Superman's fight and our Superman's fight, and the opening scene was very well done.

Of course, Anderson decides to ignore what his superior is telling him on keeping a good rapport with Superman, and decides arresting him is the better idea. He better be reamed out for that move because I can't imagine his superior will be happy that he defied her direct order to keep the peace with Superman. Like seriously, what is he even thinking? 

So, Jordan gets to be concerned over Jon and finds out his secret. I'm glad Jordan said that Jon isn't acting like himself. Yes, Jon taking the X-K is completely on him and was his choice. Yes, he has to answer for that ones he stops taking it. But it's good to know that one of the potential side effects is a personality change. It still doesn't absolve him of his responsibility, though. And good that Jon actually felt the football game was a hollow victory. 

But Lois is gonna be pissed when she finds out, especially after having to deal with Lucy and drugs, now she'll have to deal with Jon and drugs? He thought he saw her angry last season when he broke into John Henry's RV. He hasn't seen her angry to the extent that she should be now.

Lana should definitely not take Kyle back. Six months?!?! And his mistress was in their house? Oh hell no. I would change the locks on the doors immediately. I don't think there's a good way to come back from a six month affair. Unfortunately, I forsee them working things out by the end, and I'm gonna hate it. They really did ruin Kyle with this affair. That's more than a mistake. Even if he's being honest, this isn't a good thing and if I was Lana, I wouldn't trust him again, especially since he didn't come clean willingly. 

And it's a shame, since I've liked Kyle. I might grow to like him again, but I don't know if I could want him with Lana after this. She has every right to not take him back.

It was nice seeing Lucy bond with Lois and get close to the boys, but I did worry she was spying for Ally. 

[Diapason Untuned]

Seeing Lucy with her nephews was so mice. It made me wish we could see Kara hang out with them too, since she would have perspectives on their Kryptonian heritage that even Clark wouldn't, but alas...

5 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

What a wonderfully directed episode. Amy Jo Johnson did an amazing job with the directing. It was definitely memorable, with the parallels with Bizarro Superman's fight and our Superman's fight, and the opening scene was very well done.

That Power Rangers experience served her in good stead.

 

Quote

Of course, Anderson decides to ignore what his superior is telling him on keeping a good rapport with Superman, and decides arresting him is the better idea. He better be reamed out for that move because I can't imagine his superior will be happy that he defied her direct order to keep the peace with Superman. Like seriously, what is he even thinking? 

It seemed like he got permission from his boss.

 

Quote

It was nice seeing Lucy bond with Lois and get close to the boys, but I did worry she was spying for Ally. 

Seeing her discuss American football with them was nice. Nothing like sports to bond a family.

[dwmarch]

3 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

Seeing her discuss American football with them was nice. Nothing like sports to bond a family.

Having said that, this is basically the one nice thing football has done for the Clark family on this show and other than that, it's been straight misery for everyone involved.

[angora]

3 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Having said that, this is basically the one nice thing football has done for the Clark family on this show and other than that, it's been straight misery for everyone involved.

To be fair, football has also given us some delightful scenes of Clark pretending not to be super, like when he has to act like he can hardly carry a Gatorade cooler or something. I guess that doesn't count as a nice thing for the Kent family, but I sure love it!

[Chicago Redshirt]

9 hours ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

They had an opportunity to acknowledge that BOTH twins are aliens, by having the kid using a power enhancer have it go differently for him than it did for normies, but, no, they stick to every boring expected contrivance. I wonder if either Lois or Clark ever took biology in school, because they seem to not understand how it works.

What Candice (or someone) said is that xK in this mist form affects normal people differently. So almost by definition, one couldn't necessarily distinguish between how it affects Jonathan vs. how it affects normies, especially since we don't really have a meaningful sample size to go on. All we've seen is Jon's football competition, Tim (?), who so far on screen has shown that he increased how much he could bench but nothing on the par with Kryptonian strength. How it has affected Jon has been to enhance his vision (in what seems a non-Kryptonian way -- at least, we have not seen Clark or Kara be able to focus in on something like Jon did to make his passes, although perhaps it is a byproduct of superspeed/telescopic vision) and it's allowed him to have pre-heat vision-y eyes. 

I'm not sure what you're referencing by Lois/Clark's lack of understanding about biology. 

[PAForrest]

10 hours ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

Lois and Clark seem not to understand that both their kids share the same DNA. Just because the one shows "super" abilities does not mean that they are not BOTH half alien, and that if they attempt to give them grandkids, those will likely inherit.

About normies, it seems to mirror what happened in Smallville, where many Earthers were affected in different ways by "meteor rock", which means that the writers never have to adhere to any rules, happily for them. My only gripe about Kent is that the introduction of this storyline gives the writers a way to address being half-Kryptonian that would be different from the way they are doing now : one shows super-powers, the other does not. Why NOT allow them each to show his/her Kryptonian side in a different way, and make the story that much more interesting?

Yeah, I was hoping for more of an acknowledgement of the fact that just because Jon isn't the Mary SUEperboy Jordan is, he's still supposed to be Clark's son, half-Kryptonian, and the X-K should be affecting him very differently from the - as you say - Smallville normies. But it's clear I was hoping for too much, and given the previews for next week, it seems they're just turning the whole X-K thing into a trite afterschool special so they can dump on Jon again. Very disappointing. He and Kyle are undeniably the writers' two favorite punching bags. One continues to wonder why they even included them in the narrative in the first place.

It was nice for an episode and a half that Jordan actually paid a little attention to Jon for a change, as it's always been the other way around. Before this every single time there was an opportunity for Jordan to care what's happening with Jon, his gf would call or something shiny would go by and his interest in his brother would be over in seconds. That's when he's not ragging on Jon to his friends. But of course now Jordan is all righteous indignation, and Jon is even more isolated than ever. I guess that's never really going to change. If this was any other show, the way things are going for Jon, it would send him down a suicidal path.

In fact, the parallel anvils dropped in this episode between the way Lucy feels in comparison to Lois and how Jon feels in comparison to Jordan were really on the nose. This kind of a parallel could/should lead Jon to his aunt and Ally, wanting to discover his own inverse self. If it doesn't, again, what was the point?

I assumed Lucy knew Lois was married to Superman, but in this episode that doesn't appear to be the case. How much more pissed off is Lucy going to be when she finds out she's the only one in the family cut off from that secret too?

I don't give a damn about the whole boring soap opera with the Cushing-Cortezes marriage. This is literally all the writers know to do with them. They're unhappy, they're happy, they're unhappy, they're happy, they're unhappy, blah, blah, blah, And like Jon Kent, Kyle is always the bad guy in the scenario. Why? It doesn't appear that they're going to rekindle the teen flame in the Clark-Lana relationship - thank god. And if they wanted Lana to be a strong single mom, they could have just started the show that way - made her a widow or divorcee and not even bothered introducing a husband. Having discovered that this showrunner has every bit the hard-on for Lana as the Smallville showrunners did, I'm now completely turned off and uninterested in anything to do with Lana and her family. Turning Smallville into Lanaville was what made me walk away from that show after the first few years. I hope the same doesn't happen here.

Anderson's motivations are whack. I fully expected this character to be more of a traditional hard-ass military general, one who doesn't know Superman is Clark Kent and married to his daughter. So I expected the two to butt heads, but I don't understand why Anderson is so extreme in his blind hatred for Superman, and why he considers him to be the country's biggest threat? Is Anderson under Ally's influence too, or is he just insane? Since the whole X-K thing started, I even wondered if Anderson was the supplier. Candace may be a dealer, unlikely the only one, but there has to be a supplier and we haven't seen who that is yet. After all, Anderson is the one interested in forming his own super squad.

The most interesting part of the episode was Bizzaro, seeing his world, his cat!, and that weird family picture where the faces of Lois and Jon are scratched out. I don't think that means they're dead, that's something done in anger. At this point I have to guess that Lois and Jon turned against Superman in the Bizarro world for some reason, the most likely being that they fell in with Ally in that world. Is Bizarro a bad guy or isn't he? The mirror hallway fight scene in the Bizarro world and at the end of the episode in this world were awesome, very well done.

I expect Clark and his bro to be staging a prison break within minutes next week. And then what happens with Anderson and the government? How can Superman possibly work with them again?

Edited March 4, 2022 by PAForrest

[blackwing]

Enjoyable episode.  It was really cool to see that the Bizarro fight in the opening sequence was later exactly mirrored with the Superman fight against the soldiers.  Everything was opposite and it was fun.

Anderson is turning out to be a real villain, and unfortunately it seems that his boss supports this course of action.

Fun to see Lucy having a good time with the family.  I don't really care about the Ally Alston drama and Lucy's involvement or whatever.  I know the real reason for Lucy to go off on Lois is because the show apparently doesn't want Jenna Dewan on as a regular so they had to make up a reason for the rift to stay open.

15 hours ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

Lois and Clark seem not to understand that both their kids share the same DNA. Just because the one shows "super" abilities does not mean that they are not BOTH half alien, and that if they attempt to give them grandkids, those will likely inherit.

About normies, it seems to mirror what happened in Smallville, where many Earthers were affected in different ways by "meteor rock", which means that the writers never have to adhere to any rules, happily for them. My only gripe about Kent is that the introduction of this storyline gives the writers a way to address being half-Kryptonian that would be different from the way they are doing now : one shows super-powers, the other does not. Why NOT allow them each to show his/her Kryptonian side in a different way, and make the story that much more interesting?

Jonathan and Jordan don't have to share the same DNA.  They are fraternal twins.  In an individual, 50% of DNA comes from the mother and 50% of DNA comes from the father.  The way the two halves of the DNA combine is what makes each person unique.  The source of their DNA is identical but the way the DNA combines is not.  So Jordan's DNA, maybe his combination is a way in which Clark's genes are dominant and his powers have been inherited, and with Jonathan, maybe they haven't.  I see it as the same way why two parents with brown eyes but both carrying the recessive gene for blue eyes can have a set of twins, one of whom has brown eyes and one of whom has blue.

I do agree that it would have been more interesting if each twin had inherited only certain powers.  Like Jordan has flight, cold breath, super hearing, and Jonathan has strength, heat vision and keen eyesight.

On 3/1/2022 at 8:00 PM, scarynikki12 said:

I doubt Clark actually needs to brush his teeth so he either likes the ritual, the taste, or it soothes him when he's anxious. I admire Lois' restraint since I would totally be trying to jump him rather than talk while he wanders without a shirt.

I get that he's Superman, but I don't necessarily think having super powers would prevent him from having bad breath.  I guess perhaps his alien physiology could extend to bacteria killing secretions in his stomach, but unless this is expressly stated somewhere, I'd prefer to think that Kryptonians are mostly human, they eat and have bodily functions and disposal needs just like humans.  But I do think the whole excuse for this scene was to make the actor take his shirt off.

[rmontro]

On 3/1/2022 at 10:49 PM, dwmarch said:

I got a chuckle out of the "Bizarre... oh" exchange.

That was enjoyably silly.  I took that to mean that they won't actually be calling him Bizarro on the show. 

[blackwing]

2 hours ago, rmontro said:

That was enjoyably silly.  I took that to mean that they won't actually be calling him Bizarro on the show. 

I wish they would.  Lois name dropped a "Doomsday" and now we get "Bizzare... Oh."  Apparently his name is Kal El too?  Which is confusing.  Shouldn't his name be Le Lak?

The best part of this episode... NO CHRISSY!  I can't stand Chrissy.  I would gladly exchange Chrissy for the bartender on a permanent basis.

 

[legaleagle53]

8 hours ago, blackwing said:

Jonathan and Jordan don't have to share the same DNA.  They are fraternal twins.  In an individual, 50% of DNA comes from the mother and 50% of DNA comes from the father.  The way the two halves of the DNA combine is what makes each person unique.  The source of their DNA is identical but the way the DNA combines is not.  So Jordan's DNA, maybe his combination is a way in which Clark's genes are dominant and his powers have been inherited, and with Jonathan, maybe they haven't.  I see it as the same way why two parents with brown eyes but both carrying the recessive gene for blue eyes can have a set of twins, one of whom has brown eyes and one of whom has blue.

 

Clark doesn't have any human genes, so your analogy to the recessive genes that produce blue eyes doesn't work. Clark can only have given Kryptonian genes to both boys even though they are fraternal and not identical twins. And the fact that Jordan DID inherit Clark's powers to me demonstrates that Clark's Kryptonian genes are the dominant ones. I've never yet seen a full-blooded Kryptonian who didn't possess the full range of Kryptonian powers on Earth under normal circumstances.

[ahisma]

On 3/4/2022 at 4:09 PM, blackwing said:

Apparently his name is Kal El too?  Which is confusing.  Shouldn't his name be Le Lak?

It probably is, but Supermom has him in an AI translation field which is turning everything forward again. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 3/4/2022 at 10:45 PM, legaleagle53 said:

Clark doesn't have any human genes, so your analogy to the recessive genes that produce blue eyes doesn't work. Clark can only have given Kryptonian genes to both boys even though they are fraternal and not identical twins. And the fact that Jordan DID inherit Clark's powers to me demonstrates that Clark's Kryptonian genes are the dominant ones. I've never yet seen a full-blooded Kryptonian who didn't possess the full range of Kryptonian powers on Earth under normal circumstances.

Although Clark could only give Kryptonian genes to the boys, there is still presumably some randomness about which Kryptonian genes he would transmit, and how they would interact with Lois's (not to mention environmental factors). All of this could affect which powers might manifest or if powers manifest at all.

The fact that Jonathan does not have Clark's powers and that AI Jor-El  predicted that neither would manifest powers strongly suggests that Clark's genes are not the dominant ones for the purposes of this show. 

Just because no one has written a story about Kryptonians who were not superpowered on Earth doesn't mean that a writer could not write such a story. It certainly seems to me to make sense that there could be differently abled Kryptonians who would not share in the full set of super-abilities on Earth,, or would be barely able to use some of the abilities. In Superman II, Non could barely get his heat vision going. It's entirely possible others might not be able to have it at all. 

[legaleagle53]

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The fact that Jonathan does not have Clark's powers and that AI Jor-El  predicted that neither would manifest powers strongly suggests that Clark's genes are not the dominant ones for the purposes of this show. 

 

But Jor-El was wrong. Jordan DID manifest Kryptonian powers. Moreover, what Jor-El actually said was that whatever powers Jordan has will never be at Clark's level because of Jordan's half-human heritage. And from what we've seen so far, Jor-El was even wrong about that. Jordan's powers are growing stronger as he learns how to use them. Remember that the only reason he lost his last fight against his uncle Tal-Rho was that Tal is older and more experienced in the use of those powers. Jordan's not there yet, but he will be eventually.

[Affogato]

I liked Jordan in this episode, supporting Jonathan about his powers and putting things together about the drug. I'm ok with one of them not getting real powers long term, I think it makes for a more interesting story.

Back when Superboy was relegated to a pocket universe I remember that Clarke didn't get his powers until later because he was a large solar battery that needed time to charge. I wonder (in this variant)  if it is less the individual powers and more the battery capacity (that is conferred with Kryptonian ancestry) , and if Jordan may be limited by the battery capacity. He clearly is getting better, but can he do all of the things for an extended period?  That might indicate that x-kryptonite made humans store energy that can be manifested in superpowers. Powers may be something that leaks out of anyone when they have access to enough energy. Perhaps humans are just a divergent group of kryptonians (an old colony?) , which would explain why Clark can have children with humans.

I wonder what inverse Ally is getting from our Ally that makes her so powerful, if she is just sucking some generalized power or if she is playing the same actuallized-self scam, too. 

I wonder if we will see anything interesting from superpowered Lana? Also go 'our' Lana!

Also, didn't the kitty's eyes glow? I mean, they do, but does the kitty have powers?

Edited March 6, 2022 by Affogato

[Affogato]

On 3/1/2022 at 9:08 PM, Jediknight said:

yle maybe.  But a 6 month affair?  Dude, you're gonna have to do some time in spouse jail for that, and prove you can be trusted.  I'm with Lana on this.

 

It was right after Sarah's accident, which is what convinced her, I think. He turned from his family when they needed him.

[ahisma]

42 minutes ago, Affogato said:

It was right after Sarah's accident, which is what convinced her, I think. He turned from his family when they needed him.

I’m pretty sure Tonya was saying Kyle broke up with her right after Sarah’s accident, because his family needed him. Lana’s issue is that maybe he loves the girls/their family, but would he have ever come back for just her, the wife he was cheating on.

[Chicago Redshirt]

6 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

But Jor-El was wrong. Jordan DID manifest Kryptonian powers. Moreover, what Jor-El actually said was that whatever powers Jordan has will never be at Clark's level because of Jordan's half-human heritage. And from what we've seen so far, Jor-El was even wrong about that. Jordan's powers are growing stronger as he learns how to use them. Remember that the only reason he lost his last fight against his uncle Tal-Rho was that Tal is older and more experienced in the use of those powers. Jordan's not there yet, but he will be eventually.

I went back to S1.E2 Heritage to look at what actually was said.

Jor-El: You brought your son to me. Why?

Clark: Because, unlike we thought, Father, he is manifesting abilities.

Jor-El: Well then, it is possible for us to further our Kryptonian heritage after all. And you, Jordan, you will be the one to do it.

In a later scene:

Jor-El: And you're certain he's displayed abilities?

Clark: Absolutely, sir. Why?

Jor-El: The photo-nucleic effect appears to be insignificant. 

Clark: Insignificant? How can that be?

Jor-El: His cells can only store minimal amounts of energy from the sun. 

Clark: But he's released an ocular blast.

Jor-El: Only once, and he's since then been unable to repeat it.

Clark: He has elevated strength.

Jor-El: For his size, perhaps, but nothing extraordinary. He doesn't even have 1/100th your strength. 

Clark: Let's test him again.

Jor-El: There is no reason to do so. These have been random occurrences. He'll never have enough power to produce these abilities on command. His human DNA is too limiting.  

So to recap: Clark and Jor-El did not think it likely that Jordan or Jonathan would be able to display powers, and Jor-El had come to the conclusion that the human DNA was too limiting for them to show powers by the tests performed. Sounds like Jor-El had come to the conclusion that human DNA predominates over Kryptonian DNA, at least in so far as granting powers and as far as those terms make sense in this context. 

Now indeed, it turns out that Jordan has been getting stronger with his powers (though I think it is a stretch that he only beat Tal-Rho due to inexperience.) But again, we don't know if Jordan's abilities have gotten stronger purely because of the genetics or because of any number of intervening factors (such as the need to purge him of the Kryptonite sickness he suffered helping to jumpstart things or his being possessed by an xKryptonian).

[legaleagle53]

5 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I went back to S1.E2 Heritage to look at what actually was said.

Jor-El: You brought your son to me. Why?

Clark: Because, unlike we thought, Father, he is manifesting abilities.

Jor-El: Well then, it is possible for us to further our Kryptonian heritage after all. And you, Jordan, you will be the one to do it.

In a later scene:

Jor-El: And you're certain he's displayed abilities?

Clark: Absolutely, sir. Why?

Jor-El: The photo-nucleic effect appears to be insignificant. 

Clark: Insignificant? How can that be?

Jor-El: His cells can only store minimal amounts of energy from the sun. 

Clark: But he's released an ocular blast.

Jor-El: Only once, and he's since then been unable to repeat it.

Clark: He has elevated strength.

Jor-El: For his size, perhaps, but nothing extraordinary. He doesn't even have 1/100th your strength. 

Clark: Let's test him again.

Jor-El: There is no reason to do so. These have been random occurrences. He'll never have enough power to produce these abilities on command. His human DNA is too limiting.  

So to recap: Clark and Jor-El did not think it likely that Jordan or Jonathan would be able to display powers, and Jor-El had come to the conclusion that the human DNA was too limiting for them to show powers by the tests performed. Sounds like Jor-El had come to the conclusion that human DNA predominates over Kryptonian DNA, at least in so far as granting powers and as far as those terms make sense in this context. 

Now indeed, it turns out that Jordan has been getting stronger with his powers (though I think it is a stretch that he only beat Tal-Rho due to inexperience.) But again, we don't know if Jordan's abilities have gotten stronger purely because of the genetics or because of any number of intervening factors (such as the need to purge him of the Kryptonite sickness he suffered helping to jumpstart things or his being possessed by an xKryptonian).

The point is that Jor-El was wrong. And you have what I said about Tal-Rho backwards. I said that Tal-Rho was only able to beat JORDAN because of the latter's lack of inexperience and training.

But we're clearly never going to convince each other at this point, so let's just call it a draw and move on. What do you say?

[Lantern7]

Not much I can add. Anderson is the assiest ass that even assed . . . or at least top ten all-time in the Arrowverse.

I didn't pay enough attention to the opening. The assumption is that there's a universe that Bizarro just tumbled out of? Neat.

Jonathan is a dummy. I mean, it didn't help that the plot itself left bread crumbs for Jordan to follow . . . but Jon's still a dummy.

[Affogato]

On 3/6/2022 at 11:20 PM, Lantern7 said:

 

I didn't pay enough attention to the opening. The assumption is that there's a universe that Bizarro just tumbled out of? Neat.

 

Once he had ally’s pendant in his world he followed it to our world, where its other half lives. 
 

i wonder if Bizarr-o has any idea of gettng back to his own world or if he plans on dying in this one. 

[JapMo]

On 3/4/2022 at 5:09 PM, blackwing said:

The best part of this episode... NO CHRISSY!  I can't stand Chrissy.  I would gladly exchange Chrissy for the bartender on a permanent basis.

Uhhh...I'm pretty sure she was on, actually. Definitely had one or two big scenes. I'm with you in the Dislike Chrissy Department, though.  But hold on the bartender switch.  I've got a better idea.  The football coach!  It was hilarious watching him try to pump up the team before the game and instead totally freaked out himself.  High School coaches usually have lame ass classes they have to teach like Health and Driver's Ed. This Coach could teach Sex Ed, but always with a football theme to it, LOL.  

I'd love it if Jonathan's powers came out of dormancy because of the drug he took, and he keeps hiding it, convinced it's only because of what he was inhaling.  The last possible person helps him....his uncle.  I don't think the writers gave enough attention to the buildup of Jonathan feeling left out and imperfect. It came too quickly...many of us (me for sure) was expecting he was only pretending to take the drug.  We actually just saw him take the drug for the first time this episode, and now he's already hooked.  Him feeling it was necessary to take the enhancement in order to play better should have come a little later while the writers showed the audience in various scenes why he was starting to feel ignored.   They did the exact same thing with Sarah and the Kiss that Was a Big Deal but In Just One Episode Became Not A Big Deal. 

[Avabelle]

Aw I’m really disappointed at the Lana/Kyle development. Firstly, it’s very soap operaesque but secondly I liked them together and I’m not really sure what kyles role on the show is if theyre not together and I’m more interested in him as a character then Lana. As already said upthread I watched the Lana Lang show in Smallville, I don’t need another version of it here. 

[John Potts]

Don’t recall exactly what “X-Kryptonite” did to Clark, but shouldn’t it be powering up Bizarro? If anything, wouldn't wearing the suit prevent it from doing so? Granted they don't have to make everything opposite, but that seems to be the way they're going.

Love Holo-Lara getting all “Boys, behave!” over her "sons" bickering!

Glad Lana didn’t try to make Kyle a complete villain. Yes, he's in the wrong, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love his daughters.

On 3/2/2022 at 2:00 AM, scarynikki12 said:

I doubt Clark actually needs to brush his teeth

Presumably he can still get food stuck in his (Super)teeth!

On 3/2/2022 at 2:13 AM, cambridgeguy said:

The military must be convinced that Superman will never break out or that super forgiveness is one of his powers because this seems like the sort of thing that would permanently burn bridges.  Do you really want to do that with your best line of defense?  Plus doesn't the public still love the guy?  They know he stops disasters worldwide and it seems like they'd be more likely to take his side over the military.

Gen. Anderson is a ****ing idiot! He may have supersoldiers, but every times they've gone up against Kryptonians, they've lost. Now you want to put down the one man who actually saved your asses? I assume Superman's arrest must be in secret, because the "Well, he ducked out on me to save a bunch of Russians from an avalanche!" is not exactly a clinching argument (though it might work with some people) and General Lane (retd.) just has the contacts to learn what had happened. I did actually wonder if he was in league with Ally Allston(?), but if that were the case, you'd think she'd already have the pendant, so I guess not.

On 3/6/2022 at 9:29 PM, Affogato said:

Also, didn't the kitty's eyes glow? I mean, they do, but does the kitty have powers?

Maybe in Bizarro World, Krypto the Superdog is Krypto-Kat?